Development of Mechanically Stacked Tandem Concentrator Cells

摘要

Mechanically stacked, multijunction (MSMJ) solar cells offer an excellent prospect for significantly increased efficiencies in the near term. In this work, we examine several new concepts for a MSMJ solar cell. These MSMJ cell concepts include the following: A GaAsP cell grown on a GaP substrate for stacking onto a silicon cell; a GaSb cell grown lattice-matched on a GaSb substrate for stacking beneath a GaAs cell; and a Ge cell for stacking beneath a GaAs cell. The growth of GaAsP and of GaSb by vacuum chemical epitaxy and the development of GaSb solar cells are described. The development of a germanium solar cell and of a 26.1% GaAs/Ge MSMJ cell is also described. Finally, this work has identified approaches for achieving efficiencies with a MSMJ cell in excess of 30%. 19 refs., 18 figs., 7 tabs. (ERA citation 13:003256)